The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
The Practical Built In Funiture
Lumber and Manufactured Sheet-Stock
FOR the construction of built-in pieces you have the choice of a great variety of materials, and in selecting the right one for any particular job you may save yourself a lot of labor. Some units are better constructed over a stiff frame; others can be built up from boards or sheets that are thick enough to support themselves and withstand ordinary stresses without the need for a frame.
If you use a frame, whether it is made of Ix3s or 2x4s or something heavier, you can, ordinarily, cover it with a light material such as 1/8-or 1/4-inch hardboard. The frame, besides giving stiffness to the structure, provides you with something solid to nail into. The common way of combining the advantages of a frame construction with those of lightweight or light section materials is to use heavier boards or panels, 3/4-inch or more in thickness. On the other hand, if you are building into a recess where you need no side or back panels, you can often save material by installing a light frame. Following is a description of materials from which you can choose and so perhaps save time, material, labor and cash.
Lumber
The woods most used for builtins are: pine, walnut, birch, oak, maple and cedar. Fir is often used for rough, unfinished work and hidden frames. It is not recommended for exposed surfaces, except in the case of some fir plywoods. Normally, pine is preferred.
In estimating how much wood you are going to need for any particular job, you have to consider the actual sizes of the boards you buy. If you get dimension stuff such as 2x3s or 2x4s, you buy by the length — so many lineal feet. In figuring spaces and locations, and in making drawings, remember that these standard dimensions are the sizes of the wood before it is dressed. As you buy it, the actual dimensions are:
1X2—25/32Xl5/8 2X2—l5/8xl 5/8
1x3—25/32x25/8 2x3—15/8x25/8
1x4—25/32x35/8 2x4—15/8x35/8
lx6-25/32x55/8
1x8—25/32x71/2
1x10—25/32x91/2
and so on. In the case of tongueand-groove or shiplap (rabbeted edge) boards, 1/4 -inch additional is lost for the joint. This means that in a 10-inch t & g board, for example, which has a 1/4 -inch tongue, the useful width would be only 9% inches.
In buying this kind of wood you do not necessarily have to insist on "clear" knot-free boards, which are expensive. Ordinarily, you can use second grade, and if it is to be painted or papered over, the markings and other defects do not matter too much. It still is best to avoid the so-called knotty pine for any purpose. A rash of black spots over a large surface has little to recommend it.
Plywood and Other Laminated Sheets
In a great many jobs you can save both trouble and cost by using plywood, laminated board or hardboard. These are all available in large sheets, the standard unit being 4 feet x 8 feet, 4x7 feet, 4x12 feet. Thicknesses vary from 1/8inch to 1 inch.
